Attachment for electric controllers.



No. 811,340. PATENTED JAN. 30

- F. VOLK.

. ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRIC CONTROLLERS.

APPLIUATIoN FILED sEPT.12.19'o5.

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n al nd STATES PATENT OFFICE..

ATTACHMENT FOR ELECTRIC CONTROLLERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed September 12,` 1905. Serial No. 278,186.

To @ZZ whom, ritme/,y concern:

Be it known that l, FERDINAND VOLK, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Electric Controllers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in attachments for electric controllers; and the invention has for its primary object the provision of novel means for regulating the actuation of a controller.

,The device is designed for use in connection with electric controllers, particularly controllers used upon street-cars.

Considerable trouble has heretofore been experienced in the burning out of controllers caused by rapid actuation or movement of the controller-lever. My invention aims to provide novel means which will prevent the nlotorman or operator of a car from rapidly actuating the controller-lever, means being provided to intercept the lever unless properly actuated by the motorman of a car.

As the controller-levers are made detachable in order that they may be removed from the controller-shaft, trouble has been eX- perienced in the upper ends of the controllershafts becoming worn from constant use, and my invention further aims to provide a novel form of cap for protecting the upper end of a controller-shaft, the cap being constructed whereby it can be easily and quickly removed in case it is desired to renew the same.

With the above and other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, to be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Reference will be had to the accompanying` drawings, in which like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved. attachment as applied to the lever of a controller. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a controller-lever actuated with my improved attachment, illustrating a plate used in connection with the same Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a movable pawl-carrier. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the same. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan of the controller-lever. Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional viewof a cap used in connection with the upper end of the controller-shaft. Fig. 8 is a similar view of a modified form of construction. Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the cap illustrated in Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a similar view of the cap illustrated in Fig. 8.

Each controller in connection with which my improved attachment is used is equipped with a plate 1, this plate being preferably circular in form and having formed upon its upper face a plurality of staggered lugs 2, which are concentrically arranged in respect to the controller-shaft 3, said shaft extending upwardly through the center of the plato 1 to be engaged by a controller-operating lever 4. The plate 1l is secured to the top of the controller by suitable fastening means, such as screws, (not shown,) which pass through openings 5 5, formed in the plate 1. The arrangement of the lugs 2 upon the plate 1 provides a sinuous path for a spring-impelled tooth or pawl carried by the controlleroperating lever 4, the sinuous path being encountered upon one side 6 of the plate 1, Which represents the power side of the controller, while a similar path is encountered upon the opposite side 7 of the plate, this side representing the power-brake of the controller.

The controller-shaft 3, which extends upwardly through the center of the plate 1, is provided with a substantially rectangular shank portion 8, and upon the shank portion I mount one of my `improved caps 9. Prior, however, to mounting the cap upon the controller-shaft I place a plate 10 upon the plate l, the plate 10 being provided with elongated openings 11 to permit of the upper end of the controller-shaft extending therethrough, also to permit of the plate 10 being moved relative to the plate 1 and the shaft 3. The one end of the plate 10 is provided with an upwardly-extending lug 12, which serves funetionally as a pointer, while the opposite end of the plate 1l) is enlarged to form a pawlsocket 14, a spring-socket 15,wl1ich, together' with a side wall 1G, forms a socket 17 for the controller operating lever 4:. The pawlsocket 14 contains a pawl or tooth 18, which normally bears against the plate l. and the lugs 2 when the plate 10 is mounted upon the plate 1. The pawl or tooth 1S is normally IOO IIO

held in engagement with the plate 1I and the lugs 2 by a coiled spring 19, carried in the socket 15. The spring-socket 15 carries an extension which forms a side wall 20, the outer edge of said extension terminating in a sleeve 21 to receive a depending pin 22, carried by a secondy lever 23, slidably mounted upon the controller operating lever 4. After the plate 10 is mounted upon the plate 1 the cap 9, heretofore referred to, is placed over the shank 8 of the controller-shaft, this cap being provided with depending sides 24 24, which embrace the edges of the plate 10, but permit of the plate being longitudinally moved independently of the cap 9. The top of each cap is provided with a screw 25, which engages the upper end of the controllershaft. This screw is employed to facilitate the removal of the cap at any desired time. I have found by experience that in placing the caps 9 upon the upper ends of the controller-shafts they often become wedged or impinged thereon, rendering it almost impossible to remove the cap. F or this reason I have provided the screw 25, which is rotated to slightly move the cap or shaft, at which time the cap can be readily removed. Another screw 26 is employed for locking the cap upon the shaft should the same iit loosely The upper portion of the cap is provided with an exterior lining 27, of some strong and durable metal, such as case-hardened steel, this lining forming the wearing-surfaces of the lThe operating-lever 4, which is of a conventional form, is provided with a boss 28, which fits snugly over the cap 9. vThe body portion 29 of the operating-lever extends through the socket 17 and has its outer end rovided with a revoluble handle 30, the ower end of which extends through the operating-lever 4 and is provided with a lug 31, which engages in a cam-opening32, formed in the outer end of the second lever 23. This lever is slidably connected to the lower side of the operating-lever 4 by a screw 33, which extends through a slot 34, formed in the lever 23. The operating-lever is provided with a depending lug 35, which, in conjunction with an upwardly-extending lug (not shown) carried by the controller, serves to limit the movement of said lever. In case it is desired to rotatethe operating-lever 4 in the direction of the arrow A it is necessary that the handle 30 be partially rotated to shift or move the lever 28, which, through the medium of the depending pin 22, reciprocatcs the pawl-carrier and permits of the pawl or tooth 18 traveling in the sinuous passage formed between the lugs 2 of the plate 1. As the tooth or pawl cannot move radially in respect to the controller-shaft except when moved bythe pawl-carrier, it will be impossible for the operating-lever 4 to be shifted unless the handle 30 is actuated at the proper time. However, it is possible to ihove the operating-lever 4 rearwardly to shut off the power without rotating the handle 30. Each one of the lugs 2 is provided with a beveled face 36, while the tooth or pawl is provided with a beveled face 37, this face being adapted to ride over the lugs 2 when the operatinglever 4 is manipulated to shut off the power or apply the brakes, it being necessary to rotate the handle 30 to remove the operatinglever 4 from the side 7 of the plate 1 representing the powerebrake.

In Fig. 8 of the drawings I have illustrated a cap 38, constructed similar to the cap 9 with the exception that the depending sides 24 24 are dispensed with and the cap provided with an outwardly-extending lug 39, which serves functionally as a pointer. This cap is intended to be used upon a controller not equipped with my improved attachment, the cap simply serving to increase the use of a controller-shaft.

It is thought from the foregoing that the construction, operation, and advantages of the herein-described attachment will be apparent without further description, and various changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Iletters Patent, is-v 1'. In a device of the character described, the combination of a plate, staggered lugs carried on said plate, a controller-shaft, a cap carried on said shaft, .an operating-lever mounted upon said cap, a movable plate carried by said shaft, a vertically-movable spring-pressed pawl carried by said plate and adapted to contact with said lugs, a second lever slidably mounted on the operating-le ver and provided with a cam-opening, a pin connecting said plate and said second lever, a rotary handle carried by the operating-lever, a lug carried by said handle and operating in said cam-opening to move said plate when the handle is rotated, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a plate, lugs carried on said plate and arranged in staggered relation to one another, and a controllershaft with a movable plate mounted on the shaft and having a pawl adapted to engage said lugs, an operating-lever carried by the shaft, a second lever slidably mounted on the operating-le ver and connected to said plate, a rotary han dle mounted on said operating-lever, means actuated by said handle to move said plate.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a plate, staggered lugs carried by said plate, a controller-shaft, an operating-lever mounted on said shaft, a plate movably mounted on theshaft, a spring- -IOO ITO

impelled pawl carried by said plate and adapted as the plate is moved on the lever to successively engage said staggered lugs, a rotary handle mounted on the operating-lever, neans carried by the handle to move said p ate.

4. In a ldevice of the character described, the combination with a controller-shaft, lugs arranged in staggered relation concentric to the shaft, a cap mounted on the shaft, an opn erating-lever mounted on said cap, a sliding plate mounted on the cap, a rotary handle mounted on the operating-lever, means carried by the handle for moving the plate in opposite directions accordingly as the handle is turned in one direction or the other.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a controller-shaft, a plurality of staggered lugs arranged concentrically to the shaft, a cap carried by said shaft, an operating-lever carried by said cap, a rotary handle carried by the operating-lever, engaging means movable concentrically to the shaft and adapted to successively engage said. lugs, means actuated by said rotary han- 4 die for moving said engaging means in a direction radial to the shaft.

6. The combination of a controller-shaft, a plate, staggered lugs thereon, a cap carried by said shaft7 an operating-lever mounted on said shaft, a rotary handle on the operatinglever, a pawl adapted to be moved concentrically on the shaft by the movement of the operating-lever and longitudinally of the operating-lever by the rotary movement of the handle.

7. The combination with a controller-shaft, and an operating-lever, of a cap carried by said shaft and adapted to support said lever, a rotary handle carried by the lever, and means operable by the rotation of the handle for permitting successive limiting movement of the operating-lever.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

FERDINAND VOLK.

Witnesses H. C. EVERT, F. W. ENGLAND. 

